A little bit of a late post about my April Degustabox delivery…but what with Bristol Good Food Awards judging and other things getting in the way, it’s taken time for us to enjoy the contents properly!
For those who haven’t seen my Degustabox posts before, the concept of the company is simple. Every month, they’ll send you around 10-15 food and drink products (many of which are new to the market) at a fraction of the normal cost price. The service costs just £12.99 per month (including delivery), and it’s a great way of trying out new things. I love the element of surprise too – I have no idea what’s going to be in my monthly box until it arrives!
When you open the box, there’s always a card at the top talking you through the products – and normally recipe cards and/or money off vouchers for the brands included too. I prefer to take that element of surprise a little further, ignore the card, and just pick out the contents one by one to have a look…
Once again, another month where we were pretty happy with the contents – there are some things we’d never normally buy, but everything is guaranteed to be used!
As I avoid caffeine – and as the other half is reliant on it – Â the Go Splash Energy Lightning Red was passed straight to him. This tiny little pot contains 30 servings of what is essentially a very concentrated squash – you add it to water for an instant energy drink. With 40mg of caffeine per 200ml serving once made up, he noticed the energy boost, and enjoyed the flavour too, describing it as similar to other energy drinks that are on the market. He thought it would probably be better with sparkling water, so is going to give it a go in our Soda Stream…
Next up, two packets of McVities Jaffa Cakes Mini Rolls  – one in Berry Burst, one in Tropicool. There were six in each pack, and we were intrigued by the suggestion that they could be frozen for a slightly different snacking option.
Like normal Mini Rolls, they feature a dark chocolate coating and a jam-swirled interior, with the berry/tropical flavours strong and sweet but pretty artificial-tasting. We tried freezing a couple of them, and while the other half enjoyed them, I wasn’t convinced that the texture was improved at all by the freezing process.
I’d never heard of Keogh’s Crisps before receiving them in this Degustabox, but it’s a brand that I’d definitely consider buying again. Every crisp is handcooked on their farm in Ireland, and I love the fact that each packet features a Spud Nav, detailing which field the potatoes came from, the potato variety and the name of the person who cooked the crisps.
The box featured a packed of the Atlantic Sea Salt & Irish Cider Vinegar variety, which we loved – they have a far higher vinegar to salt ratio, it seems, than other salt and vinegar crisps. We’ll be looking out for these again.
Ah Lindor. My favourite chocolate! And now available in bar form too. This month’s box included not one, not two but THREE bars of Lindor chocolate – the same great flavour and consistency as Lindor truffles, but in an easy on-the-go pack which makes a great snack. Will we ever find out how the inside of Lindor truffles manages to make your mouth feel cold while you’re eating them…?
There seem to be a lot of different breakfast pots on the market at the moment, mainly in porridge format. The two Mornflake Superfast Pots that came in the Degustabox are a little different. I received two of the four varieties – the Fruit & Nut Muesli and the Raisin, Honey & Almond Granola – with each pot containing dry cereal along with powdered milk. You simply need to add cold water up to the marked line for this water to miraculously turn into milk for breakfast on the go. I love the way that the spoon is built into the lid too. The cereal itself tasted fantastic, but the milk was a little watery for our liking…
Next up, two varieties of Organic Instant Miso Soup On The Go, from Clearspring. These are such a great idea – small blocks of dried miso soup, which you simply place in a mug before adding boiling water and stirring. So far, I’ve only tried the Red Miso with Sea Veg, with the White Miso with Tofu still to try. It took a fair amount of stirring to fully dissolve, but was perfectly tasty and something I’d happily buy for easy lunches or snacks.
The two bars of Dr Oetker Fine Cooks’ Chocolate were welcomed, as we tend to cook a lot with chocolate in our house. Normally, we use “normal” chocolate (i.e. chocolate that isn’t specifically designed for baking) – I don’t tend to buy bars of  chocolate from the baking aisles.
We’ve not used the milk chocolate yet (I’m thinking peanut butter flapjack squares with a chocolate topping…), but the dark chocolate has already gone, used to make Rocky Road Ice Cream. Yes, I know it’s not baking, but it was far too warm to bake! At 72% cocoa solids, it gave a lovely rich flavour to the ice cream – you can see the recipe here.
Onto the drinks…and I have to say, this has to be my favourite non-alcoholic drink of the year so far. This Cawston Press Sparkling Apple & Rhubarb drink is truly fantastic: a blend of rhubarb juice, apple juice, sugar and sparkling water. The blend of the sweet apples and the tart rhubarb is just perfect, and it’s not overly fizzy – I imagine this would be fantastic in summer cocktails too…
I do love Crabbies alcoholic ginger beer – only one or two, mind, as it can get quite sickly after a couple. I’ve tried their Orange variety before, but never the Strawberry and Lime, which featured in the April Degustabox. I haven’t yet opened it, but I’m guessing it’s going to be even sweeter than the original version. The main reason I haven’t opened it is because I’m planning on trying out one of the cocktails that are listed on the Crabbies website…
So there we have it. Another cracking box, full of exciting products. If you’re interested in trying Degustabox for yourself, then head to the website and take a look – Bristol Bites readers can enter the code L8FS2 to get £3 off their first box. Or, alternatively, make your way over to Facebook, where the Degustabox team are giving you the chance to win a box!
Please note: this box was received free of charge, but in no way impacted on our opinion. We were not obliged to write a positive review, and the company did not see this review before it was put up on the site.